Tag: How to write a setting

How to Use the Sea in Your Stories

Writing about the ocean as a setting

I’m away at a writing conference this week, so I’m reposting this article on how to use the sea in your stories.

Since I was twelve and went sailing with my cousin and her husband on their sailboat in Chesapeake Bay, I’ve been in love with ships and the sea. The might and the mystery of the sea fires my imagination. Below is inspiration for using the sea in speculative fiction, mysteries, and adventures.

Speculative Fiction

I’ve only visited the beaches on the east coast of the U.S. where European settlers first arrived, leaving behind four hundred years of recorded history. That history infuses the area, making it perfect for a tale of time travel.

In North Carolina, my family and I stay at Emerald Isle, a barrier island near a maritime archaeology site. Experts believe they are excavating the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship. In a speculative story, an archaeologist finds a way to Blackbeard’s time—a portal or some item salvaged from the wreck. Blackbeard discovers the way and travels to our time. The archaeologist has to get Blackbeard back to the 18thcentury.

A monster story works so well in the sea because, unlike stories of lake monsters, the unexplored depths of the oceans gives a hint of reality to the idea of giant, undiscovered forms of sea life. A fantastic story based on some fact has always appealed to me. “The Foghorn”, a short story by Ray Bradbury, comes to mind.

Mysteries

The possibilities for this genre are nearly limitless. How many middle grade mysteries have centered around an old lighthouse or sunken treasure? Tons, but that doesn’t mean current authors can’t put a new spin on classic settings.

For adult stories, the episode “Shark Mountain” from the PBS show Nature inspired me. It featured Howard and Michele Hall, a couple who run Howard Hall Productions. They produce and direct underwater films. Michele is also an underwater photographer and logistics coordinator for their expeditions around the world as they travel for their films.

I would love to invent a couple like the Halls. In a foreign country, the couple record or photograph something dealing with a crime but don’t know it. Their boat is searched, a colleague is attacked. When the local police seem unconcerned or corrupt, the couple conduct their own investigation.

To give a mystery an eerie atmosphere, nothing beats a deserted boat. The crew of a fishing boat finds a deserted ship. They can bring it in to harbor and then mysterious events start occurring, like someone following the captain or the fishing boat is vandalized. Or after the crew finds that abandoned boat, another ship begins to chase them and it’s a battle of wits for the fishing crew to reach port safely. That storyline combines mystery and adventure, which leads me to my next genre …

Adventure

When a writer sets a story in nature, she can count on using that element for all kinds of plot twists and tension. 

Two of my favorite nonfiction books are The Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone and Dove, both by Robin Lee Graham. The first is a children’s books, stuffed with photos and the latter is for adults. Both recount the adventure of the author who became the youngest person to solo around the world starting when he was sixteen in 1965 and ending in 1970.

Those books alone provide a host of story elements from falling into the sea while working on the ship, to losing the main mast, to experiencing star-spangled nights on a still sea.

I could incorporate or adapt those real world experiences into a story involving a teen trying to sail around the world in the 21stcentury.

What books have taken advantage of the sea as a setting?

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Let’s Write a Legend

Let's Write a Legend

Setting is the theme this on JPC Allen Writes, and today’s prompt is inspired by my family’s visit to the King’s Hollow Tunnel (or King’s Switch Tunnel or King Station Tunnel–this place has more names than a member of the British royal family). This tunnel is part of the Moonville Rail Trail. The Moonville Tunnel is reputed to be haunted, but I think the King’s Hollow Tunnel is a much better site for a ghostly legend. So let’s write a legend for this setting.

As usual, my mind turns to crime. I imagine that when the trail was a railroad in the 1800’s, a body was found alongside of it. It took authorities awhile to identify it, but the dead man was an exiled king of a small European country. People in the area believed the ex-king was traveling incognito but his enemies caught up with him on the train. That’s how the place got it’s name–King Hollow. Legend says that the ghost of the king still walks the trail, looking for his killers.

Now it’s your turn. What legend can you imagine for this setting?

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Creating a Hybrid Setting

creating a hybrid setting

As we continue to follow through the year “The Journey of a Book”, how a book moves from inspiration to publication, this month’s theme is all about that most overlooked literary element, the setting. To kick off our theme, Penny Frost McGinnis is back to describe creating a hybrid setting, which means incorporating imagination with a real setting. Thanks so much for coming back, Penny!

For me—setting is another character in the story. 

In my Abbott Island series, the place where my characters live is based on and inspired by beautiful Kelleys Island, Ohio. In creating Abbott Island, I’ve taken some poetic license to add places and events, but the inspiration comes from the people and places on the little island in Lake Erie.

My husband and I had visited Kelleys Island a few times when the idea struck to set the story I had mulling in my mind on an island similar to the one I was standing on. The natural setting of parks, hiking trails, and water appealed to me and drew me there. As we hiked the alvar, the state park, and random trails across the island, it drew me in more and more. The beaches and water sports tugged at me. Where better to set the stories of the folks who inhabited my island? 

As I shaped and shifted Abbott Island to fit my characters’ stories, I imagined the activities they could partake in (which included actual events on Kelleys Island.) I inserted the real with the imagined creating a world my characters loved, to the point where the setting felt like a character.

In using a real island as inspiration, I had to be careful to honor the original place. Nothing I wrote should mar Kelleys Island. I changed the name of the island, added new businesses, renamed current businesses, kept a few of the prominent ones, and referred to a few I left unnamed. 

I incorporated the alvar, a unique natural phenomenon that occurs in a few places in Ohio in book two of the series, Home Away from Home, along with a kayak rental we used. The woman who owned the kayak booth became inspiration for Marigold in book two. She no longer runs the rental in real life, but I met her nieces and told them how she had inspired me. 

However you choose to create a setting, look for inspiration, do your research, and honor the place you choose. Pick a setting you want to spend time in, because you’ll live there while you write your books.

A few tips if you are inspired by an actual place:

  • Follow their social media
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
  • Read books about the place
    • History
    • Current
  • Visit in person, if possible 
    • Take lots of photos
    • Talk to the locals
    • Experience events and activities
  • Connect to the library
    • Research

I often look for books to read that have a setting I enjoy. I’m drawn to books on the east coast, islands, and small towns. Readers are often looking for a place to go and relax, like a vacation. Create a place your readers love. Happy writing!

Thank you for the great tips on how to use real world settings to inspire imaginary ones. To read Penny’s previous guest post, click here. Be sure to check out Penny’s newest release below!

*****

Home Away From Home: Abbott Island series book #2

Will Marigold and Johnny embrace love late in life?

When Marigold Hayes turned fourteen, her mother died, and her father went missing. For forty years, she has searched for her dad and lived a quiet life on Abbott Island, until she met Johnny. As her love for Johnny grows, her sorrow from the relentless search for her father breaks her heart. She begs God to help her move forward with her life before she has no love left to give. Then three mysterious strangers show up who could change her life.

Johnny Papadakis moved to Abbott Island ten years ago. His ex-wife had pushed him away and discouraged him from having a relationship with their daughter. After years of hard work, his restaurant flourishes, so does his relationship with Marigold. As he seeks Marigold’s hand in marriage, his daughter shows up on his doorstep, looking for a place to call home. 

Can Marigold and Johnny settle the past and move toward the promise of a blessed future?

*****

If Penny Frost McGinnis could live in a lighthouse or on an island, she would. Instead, she and her husband are content to live in southwest Ohio and visit Lake Erie every chance they get. She loves God, adores her family and dog, indulges in dark chocolate, creates fiber arts, and enjoys watching baseball. She pens romance with a dash of mystery and the promise of hope. Her life’s goal is to encourage and uplift through her writing. 

Connect with Penny at her website, FB author page, Twitter, Goodreads, Bookbub, and Pinterest

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